Syracuse, NY - Onondaga Community College pulled away in the second half and remained alive for a playoff berth in the Mid-State Athletic Conference with an 86-64 win over Jefferson Community College in the SRC Arena & Events Center on Saturday. The win also avenged a 93-89 overtime loss to the Cannoneers last month.

Saturday's game was closely contested early on before a 14-6 Jefferson run gave the Cannoneers their biggest lead at 22-16 with 9:54 remaining in the opening session. Onondaga responded, however, and when Vaughndell Brantley (Cicero-North Syracuse converted a putback and a foul shot, the Lazers had pulled even at 27-27 with 4:16 to go. Jefferson's Caleb Green and Ryan Tomlin then traded three-pointers with Onondaga's Joe Piazza (Central Square P.V. Moore) and Ben Honahan (Malone Franklin Academy), before Piazza's layup and free throw and a pair of free throws by Tyler Bliss (Liverpool) sent the Lazers to the locker room with a 38-33 lead.

Onondaga began to open some distance early in the second half, and when Piazza scored off of a feed from Brantley the Lazers had a double digit lead, 52-42, with 14:18 remaining. The margin remained between 7 and 11 points for the next several minutes. When Jefferson's Tomlin converted a pair of free throws the Cannoneers were within 9, 67-58, with 7:38 left. At that point, Onondaga's Kyle Kline (Caledonia-Mumford) answered with a pull-up jumper followed by a three-pointer to give the Lazers a 14-point advantage, and Jefferson was never able to get within single digits again.

Piazza led a balanced Onondaga attack with 17 points, while Trevor Smith (Camillus West Genesee) added 16. Bliss, Brantley, and Kline added 10 each for the Lazers, with Kline's all coming in the second half. Bliss pulled down 10 rebounds and Brantley handed out 4 assists. Dustin Pond led Jefferson with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Green added 12 on 4 three-point goals.

Onondaga next plays their final home game of the regular season on Wednesday evening. The Lazers will tip off at 7:00 pm against Mid-State leading Tompkins Cortland Community College in Allyn Hall.